INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Service Desk Manager positions are at a 11% growth rate, which is faster than average. With that said, there are currently 482,000 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 52,700 to 534,700 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Service Desk Manager jobs was $151,150 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $90,430, and the highest 10% more than $208,000.
Our conclusion? The Service Desk Manager job market is wide open for candidates.
Top Service Desk Manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Service Desk Manager resume experience section
Service Desk Manager Resume’s Job Experience Checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Service Desk Manager resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Leading a Global Service Desk team of 15 people located Sweden, Germany, Poland, China and US
- Forming and managing an Onsite Services (Local IT) virtual team of +50 indirect reports operating in +100 locations of DeLaval
- Transition, Program and Project management to initiate and lead internal improvements in order to meet strategic goals
- Optimizing the delivering processes within the team, improving quality, efficiency by setting short, mid and long-term goals
- Setting salary and budget routines and ongoing cost control, managing budget with regular cost follow-up
- Supervision of the team and Service Desk activities.
- Management of working practicesand processes to support the Service Desk.
- Monitoring and evaluation of KPIs indicators, defining activities to maintain objectives.
- Supervision of the team activities.
- Personnel Management (performances, absences, vacation planning).
- Coordination of external vendors and contractors.
- Support for EMEA and global sites.
- Business implementation through the Service Now platform and the ITIL framework.
- Definition of periodic reports on the KPIs status, on volume of processed tickets, and on management time.
- Elaboration of documents about the customer's network architecture.
- Management of 24 Hour Helpdesk
- Manage Service Level Agreements
- Customer Liaison
- Introduced new structure and working meathodology that directly improved morale and productivity.
- Improved First Time Fix rate to over 85% by implementing a Knowledge database.
- Introduced a software deployment tool reducing calls by 32%.
- Re-organized help desk staff workflow management system and coordinated staff/schedules
- Implemented productivity and service improvement plans
- Coordinated vendor purchasing and installation for A/V upgrades
- Managing a team of over 12 administrative & technical support staff
- Strengthening the IT infrastructure through to implementing new technologies. Performing routine audits of systems & software
- Manage the IT budgets and expenditure on hardware and software
- Developing & maintaining the company IT systems, Software and databases
- Recommending and implementing improvements and efficiencies
- Reporting to the IT director & chief executive
- Having excellent time management, confidentiality & communication skills. Having strong IT, Commercial, Planning & Budgeting skills
- Management of server software and associated backup routines
- Evaluate, test, advise, train & support IT related projects
- Procurement of IT hardware, software and maintenance products and services
- Responsible for the recruitment and training of new staff
- Writing documentation for IT procedures, security and disaster recovery
- Maintaining documentation of changes regarding users, functions & systems
- Managing the internal & hosted network infrastructure including servers, switches and telephony
- Travelling to client sites to help with installs, deployment and troubleshooting. Managing of the daily data backup&retrieval scheme
- Installing and operating Windows desktop and server operating systems. TCP/IP networking and hardware maintenance and repair
- Assistance with training of staff and compiling procedural documentation; Training new employees
- Assisting the network manager with support requests
- Ensure computer hardware is safe & complies with health and safety legislation
- Applying patches in accordance with company procedures
- Windows 2008; 2000; SBS; XP; NT; WIN '98; Administration of Network. Installation and setup of workstations and servers
- Configuring print servers; RAS - Remote Access Service
- Administrative and installation
- Modem setup and dial-up installation ; Backup administration
- Hardware & Software auditing. Exchange administration 2000; V5.5
- Microsoft Windows '98; Windows 2000; Windows XP Home; Windows XP; Vista; Professional; Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition
- Installation and troubleshooting of all the above Microsoft software and Microsoft Office products
- Anti-virus packages; MacAfee Norton, Trend
- Bakup solutions and backup recovery
- Print Audit software installation; configuration and troubleshooting
- ADSL; Access Points and routers; configurations and troubleshooting
- Wireless configurations and installations on the following products
- Network cabling and installations; Server administration
- Cabletron routers maintenance configuration
- Remote tools - Dameware - Tight VNC - Team Viewr - MS Teams
- Lead mentoring, development and management of eight IT Support Analysts ensuring they're capable of performing on accountabilities that enable business outcomes and deliver on quality.
- Lead the assessment of team's capabilities on an ongoing basis to determine learning and skill requirements including identifying and coordinating appropriate training.
- Primary contact with office leadership for projects and continual service improvement.
- Global 24/7 responder for business impacting P1/P2 incidents.
PRO TIP
Show off real numbers that display your accomplishments in past roles. Instead of listing out your responsibilities as Service Desk Manager, talk about the measurable impact you made to their business. Did you boost their revenue? Increase customer retention? Mention your proudest points on your resume.
Action Verbs for your Service Desk Manager Resume
Recommended reads:
Service Desk Manager Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume Skills Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Skills for your Service Desk Manager resume
- Python
- Java
- Javascript
- SQL
- GIT
- HTML
- MySQL
- CSS
- Jira
- C++
- Communication
- Organisation
- Analytical thinking
- Creativity and innovation
- Accountability
- Flexibility
- Eager to learn
- Perseverance
- Problem solving
- resourcefulness
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Service Desk Manager Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
CHECKLIST For Your Service Desk Manager Resume Header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your Service Desk Manager resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
Service Desk Manager Resume Summary Best Practices
Checklist: What to include in your Service Desk Manager resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
Read the job description carefully and understand what the hiring company is exactly looking for. After that, write your summary accordingly while highlighting your potential and ability to be the best at that job.
Recommended reads:
Listing Your Education, Certifications and Courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Certifications for your Service Desk Manager resume
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Service Desk Manager. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Service Desk Manager Resume: Additional Writing & Formatting Tips
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Service Desk Manager Resume Summary best practices
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Test your draft Service Desk Manager resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Service Desk Manager resume:
Service Desk Manager Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Service Desk Manager resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What Makes a Great Service Desk Manager Resume: Key Takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
